Sports Tourism: How to Up your Game

In many communities, sports tourism often falls to a parks and recreation department with limited staffing and resources. To be truly successful, it takes teamwork to research and develop venues that will attract the economic development dollars you are looking for.

Join in this webinar to learn how you can cultivate strategic partnerships that will help your community score some wins in this 10.5-billion-dollar industry.

John Pederson

City manager, Myrtle Beach, NC

John is a native of Seaford, Delaware. Mr. Pederson has a BA in Political Science from University of Delaware and a MPA from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He started his career in 1977 as an Administrative Assistant I with the City of Durham NC and then moved through the ranks in Durham as Budget Analyst, Budget Director, Finance Director, and Assistant City Manager. John left Durham in 2002 to become ACM in Myrtle Beach and was then appointed City Manager in 2014.

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Allan Rice

City Administrator, Hoover, AL

Allan Rice was named City Administrator on November 6, 2016. He previously worked for the City of Hoover Fire Department from 1992 to 2007 prior to serving as Executive Director of the Alabama Fire College & Personnel Standards Commission. His responsibilities include assisting the Mayor in the development and execution of Hoover's strategic priorities, working with the City Council to move initiatives forward, and providing leadership to the nearly 800-member city staff. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Birmingham-Southern College. He and his family have lived in Hoover since 1992.

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Charles W. Penny

Retired City manager, Rocky Mount, NC

Charles W. Penny is the retired City Manager of Rocky Mount, North Carolina. He retired on April 1, 2017 after 6 years as City Manager and a total of 35 years in local government in North Carolina. He is a graduate of North Carolina Central University with a major in Political Science and the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill with a Masters of Public Administration. His experience in local government includes serving as Assistant to the City Manager, Assistant City Manager, Director of Planning and Development and City Manager. Although retired Charles continues to work in local government in North Carolina as a consultant specifically assigned to oversee the completion of the Rocky Mount Event Center, which will open in the fall of 2018 and projects to have an economic impact of $264million over a 10-year period focusing on youth and amateur sports. He currently serves as interim Town Manager of Rolesville, North Carolina. Charles has served as Board member of the North Carolina City County Management Association and has served as President of the Association Board. He is also a former ICMA Board member serving as Southeast Region Vice-President.

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Jason Clement

Founder and CEO, SFM

Jason has lead SFA and SFM's development as globally recognized leaders focusing on transforming the health and economic vitality of the youth and amateur sports marketplace. Jason provides strategy and execution while overseeing the organizational development with emphasis on the core values within the SFA|SFM culture. Jason transitioned from sports facility architecture and corporate real estate asset management prior to joining SFA as a partner in 2005. He conceptualized and led the launch of SFM overseeing the development of the organization and management systems. He is also an experienced advisor having provided strategy, financial, and operational expertise to new and existing venues throughout the U.S., the Caribbean, Europe, Middle East, Canada, Asia, Africa and Central America. Jason was recognized by the Tampa Bay Business Journal as its 2012 40-under-40 "Hall of Fame” honoree for business accomplishments & community involvement.